Traction crawler shoe



June s, 1943. BH1-EINE 2,321,202

TRACTION CRAWLER SHOE Filed March 5, 1941 /N VEN TOR.-

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A TroRNEYs.

Patented June 8, 1943 TRACTION CRAWLER SHOE Ferdinand H. Heine,Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Koehring Company, Milwaukee,' Wis., acorporation Application March 5, 1941, Serial No.v 381,905 7 claims.'(ci. goss-1o) The present invention has relation to endless n tractiondevices of the type known in the art as crawlers, and endless tractionbelts, such as are used quite commonly upon large machines, or machinescarrying heavy loads requiring very considerable tractive eort formovement thereof. Traction devices of the above type may becharacterized as being virtually an endless train of traction or crawlershoes, these shoes being pivotally connected together to make up thechain or belt of the traction device.

My purpose in developing the present invention has been to provide aconstruction of such shoes as willbe economical to manufacture and whichmay be made of an assembly of parts welded together and yet obtainingtherefrom as much if not greater strength, ruggedness, and wearqualities, as are obtained by the present types of these shoes which arelargely of cast construction.

The casting of traction shoes involves ordinarily difficult castingoperations and creates an expensive mode of manufacture which is greatlyreduced by my present improvements, utilizing a minimum of cast partsand a maximum of parts made from metal plates and steel tubing such thatwhen assembled and welded together will provide a cheaper and just aselcient, if not more efficient, type of shoe than has heretofore beenobtained.

My invention improves especially upon the construction of traction shoesof the class disclosed by my previous Letters Patent No. 1,474,- 967,issued on November 20, 1923.

In the accompanying drawing, one exempliilcation of my invention isillustrated, and the figures of the drawing are briefly described asfollows:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a traction shoe embodying the essentialfeatures of my invention.

Figure 2 is a view partly in elevation and partly in sectionlookingtoward the shoe from a side thereof, having the pivot lugsprojecting therefrom.

Figure 3 is a view showing two of the traction shoes of my inventioncombined, one illustrated in end view, and the other illustrated incross sectional view, the pivotal connection between the two shoes beingshown.

Referring to the drawing, and describing my invention specifically, Agenerally indicates the traction shoe which is made up of a bodycomprising abottom plate I, generally fiat substantially its entirelength but having its ends slightly up-curved as at Ia.

Upon the bottom plate I the body of the shoe is fabricated by means ofan assembly comprising two L-shaped plates 2, each equipped with atransverse vertical depending leg or web 3 at its inner end and having adown-curved flange portion A at its outer end. The lower edge of the legor web 3 of each plate 2 is welded at 5 to the top surface of the bottomplate I, and at 6 the lower edge of the flange portion 4 is similarlywelded to the adjacent or associated outer end of the bottom plate I atthe extremity of the upcurved portion Ia.

Traction shoes of the type of my invention necessitate the employment ofone or more driving lugs l, which lugs engage in driving and idlertumblers carried bythe machine on which the traction belt or device ofthe invention vis mounted. The driving lugs 1 according tothe presentinvention are preferably cast so as to provide the lug member and thebase 'Ia thereof, the latter extending laterally and longitudinally fromthe lug body 1.

Thebase portions 'Ia of the lug 'I at the narrower or transversedimension of the shoe A are disposed so as to rest upon the innerportions of the L-shaped plates 2 and just above the legs or webs 3 ofthe latter, whereby to obtain the greatest amount of strength andreinforcement vertically for the supporting and connecting of the lug Iwith the body members of the shoe. At said edge portions of the base 1a,the latter is transversely welded at the points 8 to the upper surfacesof the plates 2. The parts 1, 2 and I constitute the main parts of thebody of the shoe.

For supporting the lug members 'I at their base portions near the frontand rear edges of the shoe, I avail of curved plates or sections 9 thatform bridge pieces between the base portions of the lugs 'I and theVfront and rear edges 0f the plates I. Each curved plate 9 is welded atI0 to the plate I at its adjacent edge, and the upper edge of the plate9 engaging beneath the front or rear edge of the lug member 1, as thecase may be, supports the lug at this point.

Each plate 9 forms a closure for the space between the front or 'therear edge of the lug member and the bottom plate I. At the front andrear edges of the body A of the shoe there are providedA the pivotmembers II in which are received the pins or pintle connections I2 bywhich adjacent shoes are connected pivotally to one another.

`The pivot members I I, as shown best in Figure 8, are made of pieces ofsteel tubing and each of them is held in place fitting snugly in theconcave side oi the curved plates S by means of the upper welds I3 andthe lower welds Il previously referred to as connecting-the plates 8 tothe bottom plates I.

By the above mentioned construction of my shoe, I obtain a body which isexceedingly rigid, which is made up largely oi' fabricated plates andtubing, as purchased from the manufacturer,

and which is found to be less expensive in production cost than shoeswhich are largely made of cast bodies, as previously proposed in l'theart.

The only cast part of my shoe is the member "I, and under someconditions, it is possible to produce the member 'l from pressed sheetmetal instead -of a casting, under which circumstances the entire shoebody A may be made up of structural shoe metal and tubular parts.

The member 1 may also be a forging.

If desired, I may also weld to the upper surface of the plate I, one` ormore reinforcing webs or bars I4, attached as at I5, the numberdepending upon the size of the shoe or tread member. The same willassist in rigidly supporting the lug member l and plates 2. 'I'he legs 3of the plates 2- may be slotted so the parts Il may pass therethroughand beneath plates 2 as at Ma.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

` 1. As a new article of manufacture, a traction shoe comprising abottom plate, L-shaped-plates disposed upon the bottom plate at the endsthereof with the leg of the L-shaped plate disposed toward the center ofthe bottom plate and depending from the body of the L-shaped 'bined withgenerally vertically disposed plates connecting the front and rearportions of the bottom plate with the front and rear portions of thebase of the drive lug member, and having welded connectionA with thedrive lug member and the bottom plate.

3. A traction shoe as claimed in claim 1, combined with generallyvertically disposed plates connecting the front and rear portions of thebottom plate with the front and rear portions of the base of the drivelug member, and having welded connection with the drive lug member andthe bottom plate, the generally vertically disposed plates at the frontand rearl of the shoe being curved so as to provide concave o utersides, and tubular pivot pin members 'welded to the drive lug member andthe bottom plate and fitting in the concave sides of said generallyvertically disposed plates.

4. A traction shoe as claimed in claim l, combined with generallyvertically disposed plates connecting the front and rear portions of thebottom plate with the front and rear portions of the base of the drivelug member, and having welded connections with the drive lug member andthe bottom plate, and tubular pivot pin receiving lugs welded to thedriving lug member and bottom plate and itting against the saidgenerally vertically disposed plates at the front and rear portions ofsaid parts.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a traction shoe comprising a bottomplate, an L-shaped plate at each end of the bottom plate and mounted atits upper surface, said L-shaped plate having its main leg innermost anddisposed intermediate the ends of the bottom plate and dependingtherefrom and welded tothe bottom plate, the outer end of the L-shapedplate being welded to the adjacent end of the bottom plate, a drive lugmember bridging the space between the inner ends of the L-shaped plateand having a base portion contacting with the latter at a point abovethe said leg thereof and welded thereto, curved generally verticallydisposed plates intermediate the front and rear edge portions of thedrive lug member and the front and rear edges of the bottom plate sothat the curved portions are outermost to provide concave seats. andtubular sections forming pivot receiving lugs seated in the concave seatportions of said curved plates and welded to the latter and to thedriving lug member and the bottom plate.

6. A traction shoe as claimed in claim 1, combined with a bar extendinglongitudinally of the shoe between the driving lug and bottom plate.

7. A traction shoe as claimed in claim 1, come bined with a barextending longitudinally of the shoe between the driving lug and bottomplate and between the undersides of the L-shaped plates and the bottomplate.

FERDINAND H. HEINE.

